


Skin to Bone, Steel to Rust

by KyaFalcone



Series: Read, Know, Learn, Go [3]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Age Regression/De-Aging, Alternate Universe - Time Travel, Alternate Universe of an Alternate Universe, BAMF Haruno Sakura, BAMF Tenten (Naruto), BAMF Uzumaki Naruto, Because they're adults in kid bodies, Because time travel, Founding of Konoha, Fuuinjutsu Master Haruno Sakura, Human Bijuu equate a clan, Human Kyuubi | Nine-tails | Kurama, Inked Naruto, Inked Sakura, Inked Tenten, Kekkei Genkai | Bloodline Limit, Kurama adopts Naruto, Kurama adopts Sakura, Kurama adopts Tenten, Naruto is Just Naruto, Not Really Character Death, Original Character(s), Parental Kyuubi | Nine-tails | Kurama, Surprise! Bijuu have human forms, Time Travel - Fourth Shinobi War to Warring States, Timeline What Timeline, Warring States Period (Naruto), Weapons Master Tenten, author likes to talk in the comments, human Bijuu
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-30
Updated: 2020-04-24
Packaged: 2021-03-02 00:28:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,116
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23826091
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KyaFalcone/pseuds/KyaFalcone
Summary: They are all that's left.  Everyone else has been killed or caught in the Infinite Tsukuyomi.  Sakura knows this is the end.  But for Naruto, she will go through with this crazy plan.  Use this crazy,desperateseal to send them back to their childhoods.But something went wrong.Sakura thought that if anythingdidgo wrong, they would justdieand she was okay with that.  They had been fighting forso longafter all.  Instead, she wakes up in a time she only read about.
Relationships: Haruno Sakura & Tenten & Uzumaki Naruto, Kyuubi | Nine-tails | Kurama & Uzumaki Naruto, Nibi | Two-tails | Matatabi & Tenten, Other Relationship Tags to Be Added
Series: Read, Know, Learn, Go [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/913575
Comments: 25
Kudos: 224





	Skin to Bone, Steel to Rust

**Author's Note:**

> Original Note:
>
>>   
> So this is what happens when my computer no longer accesses the internet and I can’t get to my Google Docs (where I keep everything Ink to Paper) and still want to write in the Ink Universe. I end up writing an AU of my own fanfic. But it is an AU so there’s no true spoilers for the main story.
>> 
>> I might continue this but I'm not sure. If I do, I'll add it as a new story to the series.  
> 
> 
> I'm a glutton. I'm making a whole new work in this series. Hopefully writing Tenten will help me get the Chunin Arc done in Ink.
> 
> *Minor spelling edits

It was a last resort. A seal originally made during a time of grief and sorrow that was finished with an overwhelming sense of ‘we’re all gonna die’ that _never_ should have worked. It probably only worked due to Naruto’s habit of shoving chakra at things and his Uzumaki heritage helping him piece it together. Sakura didn’t know if she should be _happy_ it worked or _sad_ that there was no peace for their souls.

Sakura groaned as she sat up. Her eyes shut as she fought the nausea that came with a feeling of the world twisting under her and the odd sensation that her body was not the right size. She could feel the windy-firestorm chakra of her blond teammate nearby. Twenty meters at her seven. The cold-steel-and-heated-iron she knew as Tenten was twenty meters past Naruto. The same positions they had been in when they activated the seal.

“You two alive?” Tenten croaked out.

“Surprisingly,” Sakura answered. She was pleasantly surprised to hear her voice was back in the prepubescent range as it confirmed the odd ‘my body/not my body’ feeling that was throwing her into vertigo. “Naruto’s unconscious.”

Tenten coughed out a laugh. “Considering the shit he just pulled? He earned some sleep.”

Finally feeling like the world had stopped spinning, Sakura opened her eyes only to freeze as she took in her surroundings. “Fuck.” They _should’ve_ been at or near the Academy. Not some _random clearing she couldn’t remember seeing._ Glancing around as she shot to her feet, Sakura ignored the return of the nausea to cover her _unconscious teammate_. “Fuck a duck,” she hissed as she slid to a stop over Naruto. “Ten, you recognize where we are?”

“Huh? Well shit.” That answered that question. “I thought we were supposed to come to in _Konoha_. This is not Konoha,” the brunette huffed as she jumped over to them.

**I think this _is_ Konoha, **Inner states. **Look at that mountain.**

Sakura glanced over her shoulder to where she knew Inner was looking.

**Account for weathering and some doton remodel and…**

“The Hokage Monument,” she finished aloud.

“What?” Tenten asked before following Sakura’s gaze. “What are you… Oh shit, does that mean what I think it means?”

Sakura nodded. “I think so.” **Fuck a duck _sideways_.**

Tenten’s face went blank. “Your team sucks, Cherry.”

Sakura giggled at the familiar complaint. It was a known fact that with at least two members of Team Kakashi on a single mission, the mission was bound to go a little off course. Her laugh was tinged with a little hysteria but Inner was quick to grab the panic and hold on to it until Sakura could deal with it herself.

“Shelter,” Tenten ordered. “And then you’re going to give me every _bit_ of pre-Founding history you know.”

Sakura was glad the older girl was taking charge for the moment. Hefting Naruto onto her back, Sakura stated organizing her thoughts. Inner helped by pulling random pieces of information together to form coherent timelines. Daimyo names and years connected with the random clan information from her friends and dozens of Uchiha journals to try to form a way to narrow down _when they were_.

There was a part of her brain that was working out the _how_ of their situation. They were about _where_ they had expected with the seal. They were around the _ages_ they had designated before starting to ink the damn thing. They had been aiming for the year before Tenten graduated because they knew all three of them were in that spot at the same time. But the village _wasn’t here._ It hadn’t been built yet. For all they knew, Konoha wasn’t even an _idea._

Inner grabbed that thought and shoved it in a room with the panic.

“So?” Tenten’s voice snapped her out of her mind. They had made a dry camp in a natural cave in the mountain.

“We need to find out who the sitting Daimyo is. I should be able narrow it down further with some gossip about clans from a big town.”

Tenten nodded. “Okay. Long term infiltration. Clothes, hair, manners, speech.”

Sakura agreed as Tenten recited the four points they learned in kunoichi classes. “Kimono and yutaka mostly. Long for high class and short for working. Typical manners will run like a fancy teahouse or meetings with high ranked clients. Speech will be hardest. But women are considered second-class in most areas, even most shinobi clans. Go as traditional as you can and speak as little as you can get away with. At least until we learn the lingo. Naruto will have a hard time blending in,” Sakura muttered the last just loud enough for Tenten to hear. She knew her blond idiot well enough to know his skills did _not_ lie in subterfuge.

“Okay. Nearest possible town to get that information?” Tenten was piece-mealing her questions, Sakura noticed. Probably to keep her own panic at bay.

“Tanzaku-Gai,” Sakura answered with a little hesitation. “It’s been established almost as long as the capital. It was always a gambling town so should have plenty of shinobi gossip and talk about the Daimyo.”

“Should we wait for Naruto?” Tenten wondered as she stood, pulling a spool of wire out of her pack.

“I would prefer it,” Sakura sighed. She pulled out some rations from one of her storage seals on her arm. The routine was almost automatic after so many years of war. None of them ever really let their guard down now but Tenten always felt better having set some traps. “Knowing exactly what happened with the seal would be the best for us logistically. For all we know, we might be able to tweak it to get us to when we were aiming for.”

“How likely is that?” Tenten was starting to set up traps around the entrance of the cave. “Being able to get to _when_ we want?”

Setting up a meal was calming for Sakura the way setting traps was for Tenten. Naruto had a habit of spamming barrier seals wherever they were settled. Ino had-

Sakura let her breath out slowly as Inner took the thought before it fully formed. There were a lot of thoughts Inner held back over the years. They had gotten into a rhythm of letting the smaller ones loose when they could, so as to lessen the risk of a mental breakdown. Sakura didn’t release her emotions as easily as some of her friends could by fighting. Sasuke and Naruto had tried to show her how they did it but the lesson never stuck. Sakura _thought_ out her emotions. She needed time and safety to go through it all.

“Cherry?” Tenten shook her shoulder.

“Hmm?”

“How long do you think Naruto will be out?”

Sakura glanced over to him. His chakra was active enough for her to know he didn’t have chakra exhaustion. From experience she figured he would be awake in a few days. “No longer than a week,” Sakura offered.

“Enough time for us to decompress then.”

Sakura nodded. “Enough time to get used to our smaller bodies.”

Sakura was pretty sure she was around ten again. They had lost most of their growth and would need to retrain themselves to not overreach. Sakura was rather pleased that the seals she and Naruto had painstakingly inked onto their skin were still there. Though they probably looked odd on a child’s body. Surprisingly, her reserves weren’t as bad as they had when she was _actually_ ten years old, more in line with when she was sixteen.

* * *

Sakura huffed as she slung a bag full of fish over her shoulder. It was day three of waiting for Naruto to wake up. She and Tenten had gotten into a familiar rhythm that stemmed from working together during guerrilla warfare. Sakura was very glad that Tsunade had taught their group so much about healing. It allowed them to make sure Naruto didn’t atrophy or starve or dehydrate.

“This should be enough for a few days,” she grumbled as she settled the bag.

“Who are you?” a slightly high-pitched voice tried to growl at her.

Lifting her green eyes, Sakura found a pair of black eyes peering at her from the bushes on the other side of the Naka River. “Sakura. Who are you?”

“Souta,” the probably a boy answered. “Why are you here?”

Sakura blinked. “Fishing. My sister and brother and I need food. It’s my turn to catch the fish.”

“Oh.” Souta blinked and stepped from the foliage. Sakura glanced at the boy’s fine clothes and dark hair. He looked like Sasuke when they were kids. “Where are your parents?”

Sakura flinched as she tried to come up with an answer. With Naruto still out, she and Tenten hadn’t fleshed out a backstory for them. They hadn’t expected to _need_ one yet.

“Kaa-san is dead,” she said simply, keeping her eyes down. She hadn’t _mentioned_ any of this to the others, but she had possible plans. She would have to after this.

**I can’t find _any_ info on _where_ the Uchiha lived prior to Founding,** Inner groaned.

Well that made her feel a _little_ better.

“I am sorry for your loss,” Souta stated solemnly. “I recently lost my mother and baby sister.”

Sakura pushed away the jumping Inner, focusing on the conversation. “I am sorry you lost them. Do you have others?”

Souta nodded. “My father and brothers.”

“Good.” Sakura smiled a little at the younger boy. “I apologize, but I should return.”

Souta nodded. “Of course. Perhaps we will see each other again.”

“Perhaps,” she smiled.

_Shit. Fuck. Shit. Crap. Fuck. Shit. Shitshitshitcrapfuckshiiiit_

Sakura kept an internal monologue of curses as she made her way to the mountain. She focused on _not_ thinking about Uchiha Souta and any revelations the conversation brought about.

“Whoa, Cherry, slow down,” Ten stated as Sakura burst into their camp. “What happened?”

“I met someone,” Sakura gasped as she set the bag of fish next to her friend. “I’m pretty sure he was an Uchiha.”

“What?”

“I saw an Uchiha at the river.” Tenten stared. Sakura nodded. “Yeah, Uchiha Souta.”

Tenten blinked back. “Is… that name important?”

Sakura finally let Inner push the time period at her. “Uchiha Souta was the youngest brother of Uchiha Madara. Souta mentioned he just lost his mother. Madara’s mother was Uchiha Nahoko, who died due to complications in childbirth. She was giving birth to her second daughter, unnamed, at the time of her death. Madara was around eleven.”

“Madara was what? Twenty-five when Konoha was first built?” Tenten asked.

“Twenty-eight, almost twenty-nine,” Sakura stated.

Tenten stared again. “Alright, I’ve ignored it before but how do you know all this? I thought the Uchiha were like, super sneaky about who learned about their history.”

Sakura smiled, turning her focus to grilling the fish. “Sasuke wasn’t as worried about keeping clan secrets than _learning them_. There was… Uchiha had a habit of keeping journals. The Library had over a hundred just from the first Konoha generation on to the Massacre, with dozens more unfinished in homes.

“We ended up reading most of them between all of us. I-“ Sakura coughed to clear her throat. “Ino was actually really interested in the pre-Founding ones. I helped her write out a timeline with Uchiha, Nara, Yamanaka and Akimichi histories with some help from the Abruame and Hyuga official histories.”

“Wait, you guys tried to make an accurate Warring States Era timeline?”

Sakura nodded. “It was pretty easy with three of the noble clan histories and several major and minor clan histories we could cross reference.”

“Sage,” Tenten gasped. “When did you guys _do_ this?”

“After the Exams mostly. Orochimaru summoning the First and Second had Ino asking questions about how much we _actually knew_. We had already gone looking for Uzumaki information and had a decent idea of the Uchiha history during Konoha. Expanding that wasn’t as hard as we thought.

“Granted, the further we went, the more guesswork there was. We ended up with a pretty good timeline at least to Madara and Hashirama’s births. Shika figured we would have been able to at least get Butsama and Tajima’s lives down if we had Senju records to look through. He was thinking of asking Tsunade when the War broke out.”

“You guys are crazy,” Tenten stated.

“Crazy kept us alive,” Naruto groaned.

“’Ruto!” Sakura left the fire pit to check her friend. “How are you feeling?”

“Like ah got used as a target by you girls and then six ‘burame’s fed on me.”

Sakura winced. “What do you remember?”

“War. Death. Using that seal I made after Raiya died,” he answered. Sakura helped him sit up as he collected himself. “Then something went wrong.”

Tenten shifted so she could see them and the cave entrance. “What went wrong?”

“We didn’t account for ‘Rama,” Naruto groaned. “The seal was designed to send our souls back in time. Kurama has a soul. Ass didn’t think we needed to know that information. That or he wasn’t fucking paying attention.”

“What’s more likely?” Tenten asked.

Naruto shrugged. “Could be either. ‘Rama wasn’t paying much attention to us when Raiya died. When we were setting up, he was more focused on making sure we weren’t attacked. We’d have to find him to ask.”

Sakura blinked. “He came back too?”

Naruto nodded. “He’ll probably show up soon. How long was I out?”

“Three days.”

Naruto groaned theatrically. “What do we know?”

“We’re about seventeen to eighteen years before Konoha was founded,” Tenten answered. “Cherry figured that out just before you woke up. We’re camped in what will one day be the monument.”

“Me and you are about ten years old while Tenten’s closer to eleven,” Sakura added.

“So right age, right spot, wrong time,” Naruto muttered.

“Could we fix it?” Tenten asked.

“Fix it?”

“Get to when we wanted to be,” Tenten shrugged.

Naruto shook his head. “Once we went back, that future disappeared. Unraveled. It doesn’t exist anymore. We are stuck here. Sorry.”

“So we need to set a background,” Sakura grabbed Naruto’s attention. She knew Tenten had been hoping they could jump forward. The older girl would need a moment to gather herself. “I’ve made contact with Uchiha Souta. I said we were siblings.”

Naruto grinned. “While I see you as my sister, we don’t look alike.”

Sakura rolled her eyes. “I know. I panicked a little. But I was remembering that seal Haku showed us. The adoption one. Do you remember it?”

“The one he wanted me to double check would work for kekkei?” Naruto asked. “I remember it. What were you thinking?”

“Could we use it to create one that could combine our bloods and make us _actually_ siblings? Half-siblings.” she wondered. “I’ve been thinking about it since we woke up. But now we’d have to have me at least keep _my_ appearance.”

Naruto nodded. Sakura could see her friend working through his head _what_ she was asking. She could see a few possibilities herself so she started drawing the components she had been working through in the dirt. She and Naruto had worked together enough times for him to know she would be doing this. It was common for them to work on something separately before getting together on the project.

Once her thoughts were written out for Naruto to look over, Sakura went to help Tenten with the fish. They smelled done or at least close to it. She wanted to check on the brunette of their group any way.

“Hungry?” Tenten asked, offering one of the done fish.

“Mm,” Sakura smiled before taking a bit.

“You knew we probably couldn’t go back. Didn’t you?” Tenten asked.

Sakura smiled sadly. “I knew there was only a small chance we could get to when we wanted. Naruto works the more major scale seals like this was though. Time-space jutsu and seals is Naruto’s domain.” Setting aside some cooked fish, Sakura thought back to what Naruto had said. “I didn’t know Kurama was with us. It adds a complication.”

“How?” Tenten asked.

“I don’t have the same relationship Naruto has with Kurama, but I do know he won’t agree to getting sealed again,” she stated. “Without all the original components when the seal was done the first time, meaning all four of us, it won’t work the way we want it to. Kurama would be left in _this_ time. He would do everything he could to _not_ end up in a seal again. If we jumped, we would end up in a world we wouldn’t recognize.”

“If the bijuu weren’t sealed then,” Sakura could see Tenten beginning to see the problems.

“Nothing would be the same,” Sakura nodded. “Naruto probably wouldn’t even be born.”

“What?” Tenten blinked.

Sakura smiled sadly. “Naruto’s mother was born in Uzushiogakure, not Konoha. She moved to our village to take up the _burden_ of jinchuuriki from Uzumaki Mito, Hashirama’s wife.”

“Without her moving to Konoha, she wouldn’t meet his father,” Tenten extrapolated, “he wouldn’t be born.”

“Yup. Without the bijuu being distributed by the First, we might not have had the dozen years of peace that formed Konoha,” Sakura added. “Those years were important for Konoha’s settling. Most of our laws and processes were written then.”

“Really?”

“Mhmm. The basis of the police force was actually drafted during those years. It didn’t get implemented until the Second took over so _he_ got most of the credit.”

“What?”

Sakura smiled at Tenten’s shock. “Shinobi history is not as accurate as they led us to believe in school. Most of what’s ‘known’ isn’t actually truth. A lot of what we were taught is slanted in one way or another.”

“And now it’ll be different,” Naruto offered. “At least, I plan on dealing with some things early. Like our crazy ancestor of chakra.”

“Stop the shit from happening before it even has time to be planned?” Tenten asked. “Count me in. I want to get a hit in on the bitch.”

Sakura couldn’t help but nod with her. Kaguya needed to be stopped. If they could do that before _anyone_ died… “We still need that backstory,” she stated.

Naruto nodded. “Problem is that we would need to have a common donor for our shared parent. Doing it individually means we should be able to keep some of our features. Since we’re kids, that helps a lot. Lets us _grow_ into the changes instead of having to change now. It’ll be… It’ll probably hurt when it does what it needs internally.”

Tenten slumped. “We have to pick someone. Someone not one of us?”

Naruto nodded.

“A male,” Sakura offered. “Naruto and I are too close in age to have the same mother.”

“I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to drag some random guy into our mess,” Naruto stated.

“Could we mix two bloods to create, like a sibling relationship?” Sakura asked. “Long lost children of a long lost sibling might be easier. Less for us to keep track of.”

Naruto made a wishy-washy motion with his hand. “Maybe. But then we need _two_ people.”

“Or you could just use what you have.”

All three jumped into attack positions at the growl. Of course, Naruto was still weak and fell back so it wasn’t very threatening. The gruff laughter told them that.

Tenten moved to block Naruto as Sakura went to a defensive position over him. “Move closer and I’ll cut you,” Tenten growled back.

The strange dark-skinned man raised his hands but made no move to attack. He was tall, probably taller than Kakashi. His hair was a wild mess of blood red hair that ended around his knees.

“Who are you?” Sakura asked quietly.

“I’m hurt, petal,” the man teased. “Truly hurt. You alright, kit?”

Sakura froze as the nicknames started to make sense. The man’s chakra was familiar in a strange way that didn’t make sense. It was subdued right now but she could feel the heat of it.

“What?” Naruto gaped. “What right do you have-?”

“Naruto?” Tenten asked as she aborted a movement to look behind her.

“Name the nine,” Naruto ordered instead.

The red-haired man grinned. “Kit. Firebrand. Petal. Bug. Princess. Shadow. Dog-breath. Potato. Poison.”

“Holy Sage,” Sakura gasped as each name hit home. “Ten, stand down. He’s our fourth.” She moved to sit down again now that she knew who the man was.

“What the hell happened to you?” Naruto asked.

Kurama chuckled. “Did you think we stayed giant all the time? Shit, we’d never get any peace. Our father gave us each three forms. Chakra, human, and animal. Figured human would be best for this.”

“Do you bleed?” Naruto asked. Kurama nodded. “Awesome! We could even do Sakura’s idea if one of the others could contribute.”

“Matatabi is checking the area right now. She’ll be in when she knows we’re safe here,” Kurama offered. “The others will be coming in soon.”

“Did you send out a message?” Sakura asked.

Kurama nodded. “Easier when we’re not sealed. Not common for me to call everyone so I got eight agreements. Tabi was closest to me.”

“Gather the nine and explain?” Tenten offered as she slowly sank to the floor.

Kurama shook his head. “I sent my memories through the link already. We’re gathering to _plan_. Bitch is going down.”

Sakura was reminded that Kurama had lost _all_ of his siblings to Kaguya’s rage and insanity. He had just as much right to take the bitch down that they did. More even if one looked at the familial relations.

“So, what’s the plan now?” Tenten asked. “We take Kurama and Matatabi’s blood and create a familial connection to the bijuu.”

Naruto shrugged. “Rama, how likely is that to fuck with _us_ as humans?”

Kurama shrugged. “Don’t think so. Kokuou or Shukaku would know. They’ve had kids before.”

“Really?” Sakura had never heard of the bijuu having _children_. That was… definitely different from anything she had ever heard of.

Kurama smirked. “Your Red was a descendant of Shukaku’s. Weak blood tie but probably why he survived.”

“Gaara?” Naruto grinned. “That’s so cool!”

“In the meantime, you can work on this seal,” Kurama looked over to where they had written in the dirt. “We’ll gather and decide what next.”

* * *

Tenten would _never_ admit it but she was actually enjoying learning from the bijuu as they showed up. Matatabi was always happy to teach her how to turn her _body_ into a weapon. Mostly by elongating her nails.

The first two bijuu she met, in this time, were rather certain they would gain claws with an influx of bijuu blood into their make-up. Considering they were going to use _Kurama_ as their parent, it made sense. Naruto and Sakura had decided _against_ using two to create a sibling. They didn’t know how closely the bijuu’s DNA matched and didn’t want to risk it. Sakura had only mentioned their mother as ‘dead’ to the Uchiha boy she had met. Kurama would be able to slip into the role of returned father.

Meeting the bijuu was… Tenten wasn’t as freaked out as she thought she would be. Though they had gone through a shit ton of crazy in the War. Maybe she was becoming immune?

_Sage I hope not_.

Tenten didn’t want to be as accepting of crazy as Naruto and Sakura were.

Shukaku had arrived yesterday, far less terrifying than she remembered Gaara during the Exams. Naruto explained that Gaara and Shukaku had a giant case of corruption insanity at that time so she was giving the tanuki a chance. He was pretty laid back from what she had gathered.

Choumei had arrived the day after Kurama had shown up with Saiken. The two had met up somewhere near Taki and finished the trip together. Choumei was… Tenten could only describe the kabutomishi as very flamboyant. Saiken was even more laid back than Shukaku seemed. He was very concerned with how they were feeling and if they were eating enough. Kurama kept teasing Saiken about being a ‘chicken’ which Naruto explained as a ‘mother-hen’ reference.

Son Gokuu and Gyuuki were waiting near what would be Kiri for Isobu. Isobu apparently spent most of his time in his chakra or animal forms in the open ocean. Gyuuki and Son were close enough to each other and where Isobu would make land that they decided to wait for Isobu. They were also making some purchases for the ‘kids’ and the family gathering, like clothes and linens and some foodstuffs.

The last of the ‘family’ was Kokuou who was currently ‘playing house’ with his latest wife. He would make his way to them after explaining what he could to her. Matatabi had estimated it would take him a week longer than Son’s group. So he would be the last to join them.

The bijuu were surprisingly… normal. Tenten likened most of the ones she had met to Summoners closely bonded to their summons clan. There were some odd behaviors that she couldn’t really explain that way but they were pretty normal. They were also rallying around _them_.

Tenten originally thought it odd. Sakura helped explain.

_“They had Kurama’s memories. The rest of them know us as well as Kurama does,” Sakura had explained. “They remember what he does. Their deaths. The deaths of our friends and allies.”_

_Tenten glanced out at Naruto and Kurama sitting in one of the trees, arguing about seal structures. “They have his memories?”_

_Sakura nodded. “They know_ exactly _how bad it got. Why we used the seal. They know we have a chance to change_ everything _.” Sakura’s smile turned sad, like it did when she thought of the deaths they hadn’t been able to stop. “They know Naruto is the one the Sage spoke about too. Kurama said they swore never to gather like this until they met that person. Meeting like this is symbolic for them. An end to their waiting.”_

Tenten had taken Sakura at her word. There were a _lot_ of things Tenten didn’t know. Mostly because she hadn’t _been there_ when a lot of those revelations came up. Tenten had stayed pretty separate from Sakura and Naruto’s group after Neji’s death. It was really her own fault that she didn’t know these things.

Running through the new katas Matatabi had taught her, Tenten ignored the itching on her arms and legs. She had asked Sakura to ink a few seals on her before the War started and they had _finally_ gotten to it. Tenten now had over a dozen storage seals running up her limbs with all of her various weapons hidden in them. She also had several others she had noticed on Sakura or Naruto that were handy.

Tenten’s focus shifted as her hair fell over her shoulder. That was another thing she was getting used to, the changes down by the ‘adoption’ seal Sakura and Naruto had put together. It was designed so that any major changes, such as facial features, would come through puberty and _not_ right after activating the seal. There had been three areas on the seal you could use to keep certain features. She had taken a long time to decide _what_ she wanted to keep.

Her parents, the one’s who raised her, had adopted her after the Kyuubi Attack had taken her birth parents. She got her love of weapons from the father that raised her. According to Konoha’s Shinobi Archive records, her doton-katon chakra nature was directly from her birth mother, but Tenten had never _focused_ on ninjutsu. Deciding what to keep was harder than she had originally thought.

Tenten had finally decided that what made her who she was, wasn’t in any way based on her genetics. She had decided to let the seal do what it needed. Though all three of them had gotten together to discuss it. She had been surprised that Naruto only wanted to keep his chakra nature and his blue eyes as something the seal couldn’t change. Sakura had the longest list with her hair color, eye color, and chakra control being what she wanted to keep.

Tenten had to ask about that.

_“My control is actually in the 99th percentile,” Sakura had stated. “Tsunade tested it before the Summit. My_ innate _control was better than most of the medics.”_

_“Before Ba-chan whipped them into shape!” Naruto had laughed._

_Sakura smiled. “My control is one of the things I’ve worked hard to_ keep _as my reserves increased and when I added the Strength of a Hundred seal. Most of my personal seals require precision verses quantity. I don’t want to risk not being able to use my personal seals.”_

_“And mine are opposite,” Naruto grinned. “But mine are designed to work best with my specific chakra nature. Most of the fuin I work on for others just need blanket application. Kura’s got a bunch I can’t use with my control.”_

_“What about your eyes?” Tenten asked._

_Naruto grinned sheepishly. “Well, the seal technically substitutes Kurama as our genetic father. My coloring and my wind nature are from my dad. I kind of want to keep_ something _that I can see as I get older.”_

According to records Tenten had looked through _years_ ago, her birth father was a nondescript shopkeeper. Her coloring was probably from him since her mother’s records showed her with a dark green hair and eye color. From what the others knew about what the seal would change, she might even look _more_ like her mother after everything.

When they had finally done the changes, her hair had turned the color of dried blood and her eyes the color of the surrounding leaves. It was strange to feel her hair brush her shoulders and see _red_ instead of brown. It was just as strange to see _Naruto_ with blood red hair instead of his sunshine yellow. It was weird, but they were adjusting to it.

* * *

Sakura sighed as she sat down on the riverbank. There was a lot that had changed over the last few weeks. They had received word from Son and Gyuuki that Isobu had made landfall this morning. Son had let them know they had gathered everything on the list they had made a few days before. Kokuou had sent out a notice that he had started heading their way two days ago. Soon their plans would begin to start. They estimated another week before everything was worked out enough for them to leave their mountain camp.

There were some disagreements about what they would do after Kaguya and Zetsu were taken care of. One thing Naruto wouldn’t compromise on was getting involved in Konoha’s Founding. Which meant they would have to get involved in the Senju/Uchiha war. Somehow. It was probably going to end up being through her interactions with Souta, at least for the Uchiha clan. They didn’t know much about the Senju activities pre-Konoha. Most of the bijuu wanted to deal with Kaguya first. Unfortunately Tenten, Naruto and herself were still adjusting to the changes done by the adoption seal.

That was where a lot of the arguing came from. No one really agreed on a course of action. Everyone agreed that _someone_ needed to ‘take care’ of _them_ as they were younger than the agreed upon majority of the era. Everyone agreed that Kaguya and Zetsu needed to be dealt with _prior_ to Konoha being built. All the bijuu were agreed that they weren’t getting sealed again. Which the three of them couldn’t argue with. Naruto and Sakura had already accepted that, and Tenten was getting to the point of agreement.

“Sakura?” a familiar voice called from across the river.

“Hello Souta,” she greeted. “How are you today?”

Souta shrugged as he sat down across from her. “We learned my eldest brother has been killed.”

That would be Uchiha Ryunosuke. “I am sorry for your continued losses,” Sakura offered. Ryunosuke was the eldest of Tajima’s sons. He was killed shortly after Nahoko’s own death. Ryunosuke was killed in an ambush by the Shimura after a mission to take care of some bandits near a village with Uchiha ties. Takahiro would be the heir to the clan now. In a little over a year, Takahiro would die from internal injuries and infection. “Do you… need anything?”

Souta shook his head. “I should be asking you that.”

Sakura smiled at the younger boy. “We’re waiting for our father to send someone. Mama had sent word she was dying.”

With all the arguments, there were a few things they had agreed on. Kurama was needed to be with the fighters so wouldn’t be able to take care of them. Having him show up and then disappear wouldn’t be helpful for their cover. It was decided that Kurama would be off on a mission and not able to get to them in a timely manner. Instead, one of his siblings would be locating them.

They had decided that their mother would have tried to make the journey to the last known area Kurama would have been. Since Naruto was the youngest, it was decided Naruto’s mother would be the one to raise all of them. The only mother they really knew. Their mother would have succumbed to her illness a few days before they would have reached the mountain range of Hi no Kuni.

“Was she a shinobi?” Souta asked.

Sakura shook her head. “Papa is. We’ve met our uncles and aunt before. They stop by to check on us. Mama didn’t think they’d get to us in time. So we left home to try to catch them before she died.”

“What did she die of?” he asked.

Sakura didn’t take offense to the childish question. Souta probably didn’t mean to be rude. He was only six at this point in time if she remembered Izuna’s journal correctly. “She got a cough in her chest. It kept getting worse. She couldn’t make in up the mountain.”

“Oh.”

Sakura nodded. “Papa kept Mama hidden to protect us. Mama got sick during one of the few times none of our ji-sans or ba-san were around. Mama said the war was getting worse.”

It wasn’t uncommon for small shinobi families to hide children in this time. It was actually considered the best chance the kids had if they weren’t a part of a large clan. Sakura also knew that Ryunosuke’s death was just one of many of the last year or two.

“Do you know when someone should be here?” he wondered. “I do not want you to die.”

Sakura beamed at him. “It’s been a few weeks since Mama sent word. Someone should be near soon. Nee-san thinks someone should be here within the week. We still have food and the only thing we’re worried about is otouto becoming bored.”

Souta giggled. “You know, whoever will have to come through our territory. I can keep an eye and ear out for you.”

Sakura smiled at him. “You’re Uchiha.” Souta winced and stiffened. “I suspected since we’re so close. Mama told us to head to your clan for safety. Nee-san decided we shouldn’t. We heard a battle when we were coming down the mountain.”

The Battle of Nin-Jin had been a big deal in Izuna’s journal. A squad of Uchiha had been intersected by a squad of Sarutobi and Senju and there was a _giant_ battle. Matatabi and Kurama had come their way from the same direction and had seen the aftermath. From the journals, Sakura knew that the Uchiha had been returning from a mission in Tea with medicine that was needed to help the clan get through the winter. She didn’t know the Senju side but Sakura doubted the Senju knew nin-jin was _what_ the Uchiha were carrying. The Uchiha had fought hard to keep the medicine, so much so that there was a giant fire. Kurama had figured it was a few days before they had shown up in this time.

It made for a surprisingly good help for their background. Sakura was beginning to wonder if there had been some sort of intervention of the divine kind. She was staying quiet about those theories though.

Souta winced. “Ah.”

The coming winter would be hard on the Uchiha. They would focus on stockpiling other medicines and the ones Takahiro would need to survive wouldn’t be in enough supply to save his life. They had estimated over a fifty Uchiha died over this winter.

“It’s okay,” Sakura offered. “But if someone comes looking for us, will you tell them we’re in the mountain?”

Souta grinned, showing off a couple missing teeth. “Of course.”

**Author's Note:**

> Original Note:
>
>> *stares at the giant bunny that spawned this fic* I should stop reading Time Travel fics and Warring States Era fics. Originally I was going to use my ‘stay at home’ time during the pandemic to write the next chapter or so of Ink. Then I found that my laptop no longer accessed the internet. I keep Ink on Google Docs because it’s easier to have my beta (the amazing Pom_Rania) well, beta the fic. But it’s not easy to write on my phone when I like to cross reference between what I’ve written and posted and all of my notes (also in Google Docs). So I tried to set aside my Ink muse and focus on some of my WIPs. Le muse did not help with this endeavor.
>> 
>> So instead, I went to read some of my favorites that had been updated during this fun time. One of those was a fic called Direct thee to Peace by Umei no Mai, a fic based in the Warring States Era and beginning of Konoha. It’s a sequel and I’ve always enjoyed Umei’s work. Anyway, my Ink muse went “Time-Travel Ink-Sakura!” Which actually went rather well with a WIP I had on my hard drive. This is the final product of those two muses merging.  
> 


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